Cambodian National With Gang History Sentenced to Long Prison Term for Drug and Gun Crimes

Defendant Repeatedly Sold Methamphetamine from South Seattle Home

PEY BIN, 37, of Seattle, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to seven years in prison and four years of supervised release for Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute and being a Felon in Possession of Ammunition. BIN is a Cambodian National who has prior felony convictions for Robbery and Rendering Criminal Assistance. Both crimes were committed in connection to BIN’s gang membership. He was not deported following those convictions because at that time Cambodia was not accepting citizens deported from the U.S. At sentencing U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour noted that this sentence could affect BIN’s ability to remain in the United States.

According to records filed in the case, BIN was involved in a series of four sales of cocaine and methamphetamine in January and February 2009. When officers searched BIN’s home, including a lower level he rented out to other drug traffickers, they found methamphetamine and 32 rounds of ammunition in BIN’s bedroom. In the lower level of the home they found more than two kilos of highly pure methamphetamine and more than four kilos of cocaine. Officers also found a semi-automatic pistol. The two men, both Mexican Nationals, who lived in the lower level of the home have pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and will be sentenced early next year. BIN admitted in his plea agreement that he was aware of the drug trafficking activity by those using his home as a “stash house.”

In asking for a significant sentence, Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi wrote to the court that Bin acted as the local distributor for a large-scale methamphetamine and cocaine distribution ring that reached from Mexico into Seattle. He has an extensive criminal history which includes gang-related violent crime. A lengthy sentence is therefore necessary and appropriate.

The case was investigated by the ATF’s Violent Gang Task Force, which includes agents and officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), from the Seattle Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.

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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives United States Department of Justice